Rise of the True Alphas
by WizardOfMusic
Summary: When evil doctors arrive seeking certain supernatural patients, the pack is tested more than ever as boundaries and limits are questioned. However, a pure magic has sparked deep within a connection between two young souls, leading to a shocking transformation that is wonderful and terrifying all at the same time. And this bond might be the one power that can truly save their world.
1. Everything Has Changed

_**Hi :)! Here I am again with a new story :D! This is sort of a pseudo-sequel to my first story, Rise Above the Ashes. But you don't have to read that story to read this one (though feel free to if you want to :D!); this story goes along with the bonus chapter from that one. Essentially after figuring out Parrish's identity, Scott spends the night at Stiles's place, since both of them were pretty terrified at the prospect of fighting a new creepy villain and didn't want to spend the night alone. And both actually slept really well that night! But the next morning, Stiles discovered that somehow, his eyes had turned red, which means that somehow, Stiles has become an alpha! Dun dun DUNNN! So now in this story, the two brothers have to figure out what exactly is going on and how exactly they're going to deal with it.**_

 _ **Btw, yes, the title is based off of the Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran song. Whatever; I'm such a huge music nerd, so things like this just pop into my head naturally :P. Anyway, hope you enjoy this story :)! This time I'm probably going to only update once a week at the latest; I'm posting while writing now instead of posting a whole already-written story like last time :P. And since this is more of a concept story, it takes a little longer to flesh out, so bear with me. Also, I've realized while writing this that the Scotlinski scenes are quite bromantic! No, there's no romantic tension or interest between the two of them at all (I'm trying to keep this canon for the most part, and I love their friendship too much), and there isn't going to be. But, my style right now is to portray this friendship through romanticism (as in the artistic movement, sort of :P), since we are dealing with a force of magic :). Hope it works out well, and please let me know your thoughts on it :)!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, or this beautiful friendship :).**_

 **Chapter 1: Everything Has Changed**

The sky glowed a brilliant blue, and the sun shone brightly on another normal day at Beacon Hills High School. Of course, times were anything but normal right now; new powers had risen, new villains had arrived, and the theoretical framework of the supernatural world seemed to unravel into abstract ambiguity. Along with that, a confounding discovery had recently been made, one that could alter the dynamic not just of those who made it, but the entire pack. Nevertheless, it was still another day of school, and right now Scott McCall's thoughts were occupied with getting the right textbooks out of his locker for his next class.

"Good morning, Scott!" Kira Yukimura greeted, giving the boy a side hug and a quick peck on the cheek.

Scott returned a soft smile. "Morning, Kira! You seem cheerful today."

Kira sighed and let her expression fade a little. "It's taking a lot of effort to be. It's the only way I can maintain my energy after everything that's happened so far."

Scott nodded sadly, remembering their encounter with Peter Hale and the mutated wolves last night and how taxing it was for the pack, especially Jordan Parrish, who literally sacrificed his life to save his best friend. Though the battle was won and everyone was safe, the fight brought them back to a state of tension. Now they were anxiously anticipating another attack by the evil doctors, or Peter, or both. "I totally get that. Gosh, it's so difficult to keep moving forward. So many things have changed, I don't even know which direction we're supposed to be moving in. I- I feel lost," he admitted shamefully.

Kira held his arm in comfort. "We all feel lost right now, Scott. We just found out that the rules of our world aren't what we thought at all, and there are new forces now that we don't understand. But we'll figure it out soon. Our pack is stronger than ever, namely our True Alpha." She gave Scott an encouraging smile. He returned the smile in agreement but shook his head, still unable to fully comprehend the whole situation. "It's all so different…" he remarked as his eyes traveled to the other end of the hallway, noticing Stiles Stilinski as he turned the corner.

That moment oddly seemed like one out of a movie; nothing was in slow motion, yet it still seemed like the world had stopped and the two people staring at each other were the only two people there. The two boys made eye contact that said everything and nothing all at the same time. But within the next second, Stiles broke it with a friendly but curt nod, heading directly to his locker without saying a word. Scott released a sigh in frustration; things really were so different now, and he really hoped that the pack was ready to deal with it, including him.

Upon noticing Stiles, Kira took it upon herself to approach him, Scott following behind her. "Hey, Stiles! How are you?"

"Hey Kira!" Stiles replied, "I'm doing all right. You?"

"Oh, as all right as I can be right now." She paused for a moment, looking at Stiles curiously. "Something seems different about you."

Stiles suddenly got very defensive. "What? Nothing's different! Why would anything be different? We've done stuff like this before, multiple times!" Scott gave him a stern look, but Stiles ignored it.

"Stiles! Relax! I was just commenting that you seem different today; I was thinking you actually had a good night's sleep for once."

Stiles became meek at that statement, his defensive tone disappearing. "Oh, yeah. Right. I did sleep pretty well last night. Sorry, I've just been really-"

"-on edge. I know. We all have been. We just gotta keep ourselves going. And look on the bright side; it'll be easier to fight now with Jordan on our side." She shook her head in amusement. "I still can hardly believe that Deputy Parrish is actually a _phoenix_!"

Stiles chuckled at that, just as Malia Hale and Lydia Martin approached the teens. Upon noticing them, Stiles immediately melted into a relaxed state and moved to hug his girlfriend. "Hey you!" he exclaimed. Malia was surprised by the sudden affection but welcomed it all the same. "Hey yourself!" she responded, returning the hug. After they broke apart, Stiles sincerely inquired, "How are you? Everything all right?"

Malia took a breath before answering, "Yeah, at least it will be. I'm just…still not sure how to handle all of this. Ugh, stupid emotions; see, THIS is why I'd rather be a coyote."

Stiles patted her arm sympathetically. "I'm sure you'll be able to work things out. And besides, if you weren't also a human, you wouldn't have met me!" Malia laughed good-naturedly, and Stiles was pleased that he could cheer the girl up.

"Exactly!" Lydia agreed, "Plus, there's still the prospect of finding your mom. The Desert Wolf is out there somewhere, and I'm positive that with all of our talents put together, we can definitely find her."

Malia smiled fondly at the friends surrounding her. "Thanks, guys," she said warmly. Suddenly the bell rang, signaling the start of another class, and the teens hurried to get to their classes on time. Before walking through the door though, Scott grabbed Stiles's arm to stop him.

"Stiles, are we going to talk about what happened this morning?"

"This morning? Nothing happened this morning. We woke up, got ready, and came to school. Nothing special about that; it's not like you haven't slept over before-"

"You know what I mean."

Stiles opened his mouth in protest, but Scott cut him off. "No, we're not gonna just forget about this. Look, I don't know what's happened, but whatever has is BIG." He lowered his voice to a whisper so that no one else could hear. "Stiles, your eyes turning red can mean only one thing; you're an _alpha_ -"

"NO I'M NOT!" Stiles cried. A pause of silence followed, and Scott could sense the stares of all the students on the other side of the door. Stiles shook his head and recomposed himself. "I'm not-" he tried to explain, "I need…to go to class." And with that, he freed himself from Scott's grip and walked inside the classroom, leaving the werewolf even more frustrated. He sighed and thought back to the morning in question. The night was calm for the most part; both boys slept extremely well and woke up with no memory of nightmares whatsoever. But then Scott saw Stiles's eyes transform into a luminescent red, and everything was a mystery after that. After a firm argument by Stiles, Scott was assured that his best friend wasn't secretly a supernatural creature all this time. But there was no doubting that there was something supernatural about him now. And the strangest thing was that the thought of Stiles being an alpha didn't surprise Scott at all, and that was a surprise in itself. Whatever was going on, it was crucial for the both of them to talk through this and work this out, together. Because something told Scott that this was much bigger than anything they had faced before.

"""

Lunch time arrived, and everyone excitedly rushed to the cafeteria at the prospect of food. Scott joined the crowd, eager to grab some chicken and potatoes. However, he was so consumed in wonderful thoughts of food that he didn't keep track of where exactly his feet were taking him. He got a sudden whiff of books and carpet and realized that instead of being in the cafeteria, he had walked into the library. He looked around, confused, not having any recollection of wanting or needing to go to the library. But he had a sense that someone was here who he needed to see, or who needed to see him. In a moment, it struck him who exactly would skip lunch to go to the library.

He scanned the bookshelves and soon found Stiles on the floor slouched against one, rapidly flipping through a book. He quickly walked up to him and crouched down, eyeing the titles scattered across the floor, some of medical reference books and some of various mythologies. "Stiles," he started.

"Not now, Scott. I'm reading up on variations of pink eye."

But Scott knew that Stiles wasn't reading to find answers, he was reading to avoid answers. "Stiles, please," he started again in desperation, "I'm your best friend. Please, just _talk_ to me."

Stiles started ruffling through the pages even faster, and Scott reached out and placed a hand on top of his, stopping the ruffling and gently closing the book. Stiles breathed slowly, upset at the situation and guilty that he had distanced himself from his best friend. He gave up and broke down. "I- I don't want this," he whispered shamefully.

Scott sat by his friend and instinctively wrapped an arm around his shoulder. He didn't say that Stiles will want it or that something like this is a gift, because he knew Stiles, and he knew what made him great in the first place. So he simply said, "I know." After a moment, he continued, "But the fact is it's happened. Nothing can change that, so we need to figure this out, together. Things have changed, whether we want them to or not. And we need to learn how to handle change."

Stiles was still upset, but he nodded in agreement. He asked the most prominent question on his mind, "Scott, how could this have happened?"

Scott pondered for a moment. "You sure you weren't-"

"No I wasn't bitten or anything. I haven't come into contact with any supernatural creature except for Jordan." Scott raised an eyebrow in amusement, and Stiles sighed, "Yeah yeah I know, but you guys are my friends; it's not like any of you did anything to me." He stopped for a minute, which caught his werewolf friend's attention. "What is it?" Scott inquired, quick to notice a change in his friend's heart rate, but Stiles kept quiet, afraid to express the real uneasiness that was on his mind. For some odd reason, Scott had a hunch of what that was, and he removed his arm from Stiles's shoulders. "Stiles, are you thinking _I_ did something? Last night? Do- do you think I _attacked_ you? Be- because I don't remember anything violent happening, and surely I'd remember _something_ if it did-"

"Dude, no, I don't mean that! You didn't do anything like that!" Stiles exclaimed desperately; one could tell how distressed he was by all this and how anxious he was to not upset his best friend. "I know you wouldn't hurt me like that…"

"…But?"

Stiles released a shaky sigh. "I- I don't know what happened, or how it happened, but for some reason…I can't seem to shake this feeling that it- it has something to do with you," he finally admitted.

Scott looked up at the teen, not sure of what to think now. Something clicked with that statement; something made sense. But he didn't know exactly what made sense. "Stiles, I'm sorry," he apologized lamely.

Stiles frowned; he didn't want Scott to feel guilty about this. The man was guilty enough about way too many things. "Don't apologize. I don't know why I feel like this has to do with you, but…I dunno man; I'm just really confused right now." His voice started shaking, and he could feel the ghost of tears hiding in his eyes. He turned to look at his best friend. "Scott, I am not an alpha. I know what you said; I know I had the same eyes. But it just…it just doesn't make sense! It doesn't make sense…" And finally, those tears started trickling down his face, and Scott replaced his arm around his shoulders. In response, Stiles leaned his head against him, completely surrendering to emotion. It wasn't something they did often, though it did happen, but this time it was instant, instinctual. And mentally that startled the two boys. Scott didn't want to admit it out loud, but he knew that whatever happened wasn't just changing Stiles, it was changing _them_. Somehow, their dynamic was different, and neither teen could explain how. But Scott decided to put that aside for now and just focus on comforting his best friend. "We'll figure out what's going on, soon," he assured, "You and me, we always have a plan, don't we?"

Stiles smiled softly against his shoulder. "And a plan B," he added.

Scott smiled in return, and the two stayed in the library for the rest of lunch time. They didn't eat, but for some reason, neither boy minded at all.


	2. Once Upon a Time

**_Hey everyone :)! So my original plan was to update every Saturday. But since I did actually manage to finish this chapter and have gotten quite a few requests to update soon, this chapter is ready :D! Aaand, it's story time, yay! This is a reeeally long chapter, so bear with me. But it was uber fun to write because I actually got to include my own fable! Yup, this fairytale is an original one by moi for this story :). And by the way, Rolf is a name that's wolf-related, and Mina is a name that means love, so there's the reasoning behind that (Also, I love the Sound of Music ;) ). I did try to research a bit of the mythology on werewolf relationships, so there is a bit of that in there. But for the purpose of this story, I've kind of sculpted my own little interpretation on supernatural/magical mythology. Hope it's intriguing and entertaining enough! And looking back on it, I'm really glad that I had Stiles eavesdrop on the storytelling, because otherwise I'd have to write Scott retelling this story to Stiles later on, and I really don't want to have to go through all that again XD._**

 ** _I knew I wouldn't even come close to finishing this before the premiere, but I'm glad for it, because now that I'm getting a little more understanding of the concepts presented in Season 5, it might make it a bit easier to write out some of the battling that'll have to go down between the pack and the evil scientists._**

 ** _Speaking of Season 5, if anyone has seen the two premiere episodes, feel free to private message me discussions and speculations on it! I do not know anyone at the moment who has caught up with the show completely, and I'm in dire need to fan-squeal about it with someone. OMG, SO MANY QUESTIONS! And in the second episode (Warning: sort of spoiler!), during a certain Scotlinski scene involving hands and certain supernatural anesthesia, pleeease tell me I am NOT the only one who noticed what happened with the truck lights! Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I have a sneaky suspicion that something's going on... And I'd like to pride myself on have sort of Stiles-like instincts ;). Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter! The next one is still being planned, but I should be able to post it at the latest next Saturday. Thank you sooo much for all the positive support! I'm so glad you like the story so much and am stoked that the concept is so well received :)!_**

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, including certain facts that I've adopted from Season 5 canon since I love them so much (#SeasonFiveIsSoCreepyEpic :D)._**

 **Chapter 2: Once Upon a Time**

"Scott, time to feed the cats," declared Dr. Alan Deaton.

Scott groaned. Even though the cats at the animal clinic finally got to a point where they weren't yowling and lunging spastically every time Scott came by, they would still give him death glares when he fed them, and he didn't like dealing with the animosity. He still carried on with his job though, knowing that he did make at least some progress with them, and he grudgingly grabbed a bag of cat food and walked to where the cats were residing. One of them growled at him, and by an odd animalistic instinct Scott growled back, "Oh shut up! All I do is come in and give you food. Why on Earth do you still think I'm out to get you or something?"

The cat instantly jumped back, eyes growing wide with a rare, startled expression on its face. After a second, it meekly lay down, politely waiting for its food. Scott's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion as Dr. Deaton walked by, having just noticed the phenomenon as well. "Impressive; you seem to be making even more progress with them. It's almost like it understood you." He chuckled, and Scott chuckled back lamely, baffled rather than amused. He had a weird feeling that the cat somehow _did_ understand him, perfectly. Maybe growing up as a werewolf meant evolved powers. But something told him that wasn't it at all, which made Scott feel slightly uneasy. Nevertheless, he shook the feeling off and kept working until all the cats were fed, surprisingly easily. He continued doing various tasks, casually chatting with Deaton about school and about the new creepy villains arriving at Beacon Hills and about Deputy Parrish's recent accomplishments and about how Stiles was the main reason for the deputy embracing his awesomeness. And upon mention of his best friend, inspiration suddenly struck Scott; he figured if he could ask anyone about what was going on with him and Stiles and get a satisfactory answer, he could definitely ask Deaton.

Speaking of Stiles, the teen had just arrived at the clinic, wanting to drop in and visit both the veterinarian and his best friend. Mainly though, he did want to talk with Scott; he knew his friend was right, that they needed to work this out sooner than later. He was just about to knock on the desk to make his presence known when something unusual yet familiar struck his ears. It took a moment for him to realize with shock that he was actually hearing _voices_. In fact, he was hearing _Scott_ 's voice, loud and clear, as though his best friend was standing right next to him. Without really realizing it, Stiles sank to the floor, completely befuddled by this apparently evolved sense of hearing. This didn't make sense; the only people Stiles knew who had hearing this good were…

No. That couldn't be it. That wasn't possible at all. He ignored the worrying thoughts plaguing his mind and was about to get up and walk in when he heard Scott's inquiring voice. He stopped, staying hidden, and decided to eavesdrop on the conversation between the werewolf and the emissary.

"Uhh, Dr. Deaton, can I ask you something?" Scott asked, nervously approaching the vet.

"Of course, Scott. Is anything the matter?"

"No, no; nothing's wrong. I was just…curious about something."

Deaton raised his eyebrows in kind amusement. "Okay, curious about what?"

Scott took a moment to process his question before asking it, careful to be sincere so as not to reveal anything. "Can…can someone who's _not_ a werewolf…become an alpha?" Stiles's breathing deepened, not quite sure if he wanted to hear the answer, but he forced himself to listen.

Deaton's brows rose again, but this time in puzzlement. "An alpha? Yes, alpha roles are present in many species of nature, but as far as I know, alpha in the supernatural sense has only referred to werewolves." Stiles softly sighed in relief; maybe his red eyes weren't that significant after all…

Scott slowly nodded his head. "Okay," he said, still not entirely convinced. Deaton was quick to pick up on that. "If you don't mind my asking," he began carefully, "why exactly do you want to know?"

Scott took a deep breath; performance time. "It's just…I was just thinking…Kate Argent is still out there, and yeah, she's not exactly a werewolf, but she was scratched by one, and if a werewolf can become an alpha by killing one, what if…what if Kate is able to do just that?" He worked hard to maintain a steady heart beat and wear his scared puppy eyes. Stiles had to hold back a snort; even without looking he could clearly see the face that Scott was putting on. He had to admit though, it was a decent cover-up.

Deaton smiled, realizing now what was worrying the young alpha. "You don't have to worry about Kate; she can't do anything of the sort."

Scott smiled back, feigning relief, but he knew he still had to worm some sort of an answer out of the doctor. "So there aren't _any_ records of ANY non-werewolf with alpha powers? At all?"

"No, none that I've heard of." The doctor pondered for a moment. "Although, now that I think about it, there is actually one children's fable that does discuss that very matter! It hasn't been told in so long that I almost forgot all about it!"

Scott perked up. "A children's fable?" he questioned, feeling his heartbeat rise just like- wait, he sensed something. Another heartbeat, also rapidly increasing, and one _so_ familiar. He breathed in and caught a whiff of a _very_ recognizable scent. Stiles was here, sitting right outside, though why the boy didn't just come in Scott didn't know. He returned his attention to Deaton, making a mental note to rush outside when this was all done and tell Stiles everything, no matter what the truth held.

"It used to be told in werewolf families; the mother or father or both would relay it to their children in the hope that they would learn from it and be strong people as well as strong werewolves." A nostalgic smile grew on his face. "It was one of Talia Hale's favorite stories to tell."

Scott's eyes gently widened in surprise; this was news to him. "Wait, werewolves have their own children's stories?"

"Of course! Every culture has fables and fairytales unique to them, and that includes supernatural cultures." Deaton then noticed the expectant expression Scott was wearing and couldn't help but smirk. "You know, even though this story was typically only told in families of werewolf blood, perhaps you'd appreciate it too."

Scott grinned widely, forgetting all his reasons for bringing this up in his youthful fascination. "Story time?" he asked excitedly.

Deaton laughed, "Story time indeed." Without another word, Scott hopped up onto a free space on the table and crossed his legs, beaming up at the emissary. Deaton gave him a funny look but chuckled it off, secretly admiring the childlike spirit that the boys seemed to possess and would never lose. He himself propped himself up on the edge of a counter for the fun of it, and with twinkling eyes, he began the story:

"Once, there was a young man named Rolf-"

Both Scott and Stiles snorted. "Really? Rolf?" Scott giggled.

Deaton narrowed his eyes. "That was the name Talia used. When you have kids, use whatever name you want."

A grin spread across the boy's face. "Once, there was a young man named Stiles," he echoed, "I think I could work with that." Stiles groaned good-naturedly and rested his head in his hands; Scott was such a goose. A werewolf, but a goose nonetheless. Deaton however continued to stare at the alpha sternly, and Scott calmed himself down. "May I continue now?" he said, authoritatively but kindly. Scott nodded, and the doctor continued.

"Anyway, Rolf lived in a small village and had a pretty good life. He had parents who loved him dearly and friends who always supported him. But there was a pack of werewolves on the move, and they had arrived at this village on the night of the full moon. The alpha of this pack was unstable; he became an alpha far too soon and was not in full control of his powers yet. Therefore, he unfortunately lost control that night and ended up biting Rolf and turning him. He begged for forgiveness afterwards and offered his guidance to the new beta."

Scott frowned. "That kind of sucks," he lamented, "I almost got annoyed with that alpha, but I understand how it feels to turn someone without meaning to." He thought back to the night he bit Liam; yes, he saved his life by doing so, but Scott still felt bad that he put the young teenager through something like that. A thought then occurred to him. "Hang on, how did this alpha become an alpha without even gaining full control of his powers?"

"According to the story, it was a messy affair. Apparently, the previous alpha was weakening and wanted someone to take his place. This one was newly turned, but for some reason the older wolf claimed to see high potential in the young man, and just before he died, he transferred his status to him."

Scott facepalmed. "That's stupid," he stated. Deaton nodded furiously in agreement before continuing.

"When Rolf learned what had happened to him, he didn't react exactly like you did. Yes, he was terrified and wanted nothing to do with the supernatural. But instead of turning to his friends for support, he turned away from them and eventually accepted the alpha's offer to join the pack. The pack members helped him learn how to maintain control. But he still distanced himself from his friends and family, afraid that they would only see him as a monster, or that he'd give them a reason to see that."

Scott mentally whimpered at the image of that. "I couldn't do that. My friends…they're _everything_ to me. I could never have gotten through this without them."

Deaton smiled; this was just another reminder of why Scott deserved to be a True Alpha. "Well, fortunately, Rolf didn't live like that for long. One full moon night, he was going for a run in the woods. He got to a point where exercising his body helped him maintain focus to where he could be in wolf form but still have conscious control over his actions. But before he realized what was happening, he accidentally ran into a figure who had just appeared on his path. As he got up, he noticed that the person he knocked down was a young woman, one who he recognized as his old friend, Mina."

"Rolf was terrified. Mina was the kindest friend he had ever had, and here she was seeing him in full monster form. He moved to run far away before he could hurt her or himself. 'Wait!' Mina cried, getting up, and as he turned around, he noticed just how much she seemed to not be phased by his form. She slowly approached him, and when she was in close proximity, she gently touched his face and said one word: 'Rolf'."

Scott gasped, "She recognized him?"

"Yes. She could see the man behind the monster, enough to know that the man was in fact not a monster. Her acceptance led Rolf to reveal everything, explaining how he got bitten and where he had been going and even why he avoided everyone in the village. And Mina listened patiently and afterwards gave him a warm embrace, telling him that she would always be there for him, no matter what."

Scott snickered, "I see where this is going now."

Deaton tried to give a chastising look, but couldn't help smiling. "Perhaps so. After that night, Mina became Rolf's confidant; whatever he was learning from the pack, whatever was going on in his life, he would immediately tell her about it. They became best friends, and eventually, they did indeed fall in love."

Scott laughed in triumph, "Called it!" Despite his goofiness though, he was sincerely pleased with that part of the story. It reminded him of when Kira discovered Scott's identity, how she touched his face and didn't even run away, how she wasn't even remotely scared of him at all. That moment meant more to him than she would ever know.

In a strange occurrence, Stiles felt a sudden tug at his heart and a weird sensation of giddiness. An image of Kira momentarily flashed before his eyes and disappeared. He almost fell over with the confusion of it but maintained balance. "What the-?" he whispered to himself, wondering what in the world made him think of the kitsune. He pushed the puzzle aside and went back to listening.

Deaton resumed his narration, "At one point, Mina offered to help Rolf reconnect with the community, especially with his family and friends. Rolf hesitated at first, but trusting his friend wholeheartedly, he agreed to try. So with her help, he eventually told his friends everything about who he was, even demonstrating his newfound powers. It took a while for some people to grasp an understanding of what had happened and even longer for some to accept and respect it. But eventually they did, and Rolf ended up having a larger support group than he could have imagined."

"What about his parents?" Scott inquired anxiously. Yes, his own mom did eventually accept his transformation, but it did take a while, and he had no doubt that Stiles had to deal with the exact same thing with his dad. Much to his relief though, Deaton gave a reassuring answer. "Well, after being so distant from him for so long, his parents were just glad to have their son back, no matter who or what he was now."

Scott smiled. "I'm glad everyone ended up being supportive." He paused for a moment. "Wait, is this one of those "love yourself no matter what/acceptance" fables?" he asked skeptically.

"Wait, wait, I'm getting to the main point of the story," Deaton chuckled.

"Seems to be turning into a _long_ story," Scott pointed out.

The emissary wore a look of amused guilt. "Well, Talia may or may not have told this story right before her kids' bedtime."

Scott narrowed his eyes good-naturedly. "Relax, Scott, we're getting to the fun part soon, I promise!" Deaton assured with a grin. He was really enjoying telling this story now. "Anyway, where was I? Oh, right! So, once Rolf had settled back into the village community, he decided to talk to the rest of the pack and try to convince them to come out of hiding and join him. Upon his initial suggestion of this, the pack was appalled; they were shocked that he could be so reckless as to fraternize with humans who had loathed their kind for ages. They tried to tell him that he wasn't thinking clearly, that he'd been brainwashed into trusting the humans so that those humans could eventually destroy him and them. But he never faltered, his faith strong and unwavering. Determined, he went as far as to bring some of his friends to where the pack had taken refuge. The werewolves were alarmed at first, but they soon discovered that the humans that were brought didn't seem to want to harm them in any way. In fact, they weren't even disgusted one bit by the supernatural creatures. Slowly but surely, the pack came around to giving the village community a chance. And soon, the group of werewolves were accepted completely, finally able to live freely amongst the villagers."

"As time passed, the pack began to admire Rolf greatly for his confidence and his determination to maintain peace in and around the village. Even though his powers continued to grow day by day, he still refused to use any of them for violence or injury."

 _"Ha, THAT certainly sounds familiar."_ Scott jumped slightly at the soft mutter that seemed to just poof out of nowhere in the back of his head. And strangest of all, the voice that went with it wasn't his. It did sound _quite_ familiar though… He subconsciously looked back to the door, where Stiles was waiting just outside.

Deaton was still storytelling, oblivious to Scott's distraction. "Soon, the current alpha decided that there was someone much better fit to lead this pack than he, and so he renounced his title and passed his powers on to Rolf."

Scott immediately forgot about the voice in his head at the mention of this key plot point. "Rolf became an alpha?" he asked in amazement.

"Yes. And though the technicalities of the transformation do not suggest it at all, some people even refer to him as a True Alpha, simply because of how strong of character he possessed."

Scott beamed brightly; he was liking where this story was going. "That's really awesome! But what does that have to do with other species?"

"I'm getting there. As an alpha, Rolf took on larger responsibilities with taking care of his pack, but he also took responsibilities of evaluating his life. When he started thinking about Mina and the benefits they gained from being together, he soon had a clear idea of what he needed to do."

Scott gasped in realization, "No way!"

Deaton nodded, a grin yet again spreading across his face. "He ended up proposing to Mina, and she of course said yes. After their engagement, he brought her to the other werewolves and asked them to consider making her an official part of their pack, _not_ as a werewolf."

"They were hesitant, of course; interspecies packs were very rare at the time. But as they saw the relationship between Rolf and Mina, they realized that they had no choice. The two were inseparable, and their strengths were enhanced through each other's support. And oddly enough, _both_ of them seemed to possess the qualities needed to take care of the pack. So they gave the couple their blessing, and the two got married within the month."

The teen werewolf could not wipe the grin off his face. Gosh he was a romantic sap. "So I guess they lived happily ever after then?" he questioned, enjoying the story but at the same time wondering if it was ever going to end.

"Not quite yet. Something happened on their wedding night."

Scott scrunched his face in awkwardness. "Dr. Deaton! I don't wanna hear about that!"

"It's important," Deaton pressed, not phased, "Rolf and Mina shared a strong connection for a long time. But the night of their marriage was what completely sealed their bond. Now they were one soul in two bodies, bonded together for eternity. And upon waking up, Rolf noticed a very significant change. For Mina's eyes were no longer hazel, but glowing red."

Scott's eyes grew to the size of CDs. Part of him was feeling shock and wonder while another part, one that didn't really feel like himself, was feeling an odd surge of panic. He ignored that part. "Mina became an alpha," Scott whispered in awe.

"Indeed she did," Deaton confirmed, eyes twinkling again. "And though it did surprise everyone else, the werewolves accepted it immediately, now seeing Rolf and Mina as strong, equal leaders of the pack. The end." Deaton finished with a proud, sentimental smile on his face, a contagious one that soon traveled to Scott as well.

The boy was speechless; it was too incredible for a phenomenon like this to happen. Though, thinking about it, he realized that now it had. He shook his head in amazement. "And she was only human…" he said softly.

"Well, I'm not quite sure exactly. This story has been told so many times in its history using so many different species of creatures that no one knows the original version of Mina anymore. Besides, it didn't matter what creature Mina was; the lesson was-"

"-Don't abandon your friends, EVER." Scott finished for him. Deaton seemed to consider the answer for a minute. "Yes, that is one lesson, but it more importantly focuses on precisely the _value_ of friendship, and love."

Scott paused for a moment. "Their love was what made Mina an alpha, wasn't it?" he asked, understanding slowly dawning on him. If love, any kind of love, could create an alpha, then it could in fact be possible…

"In many stories, love is often represented as a powerful magic of its own. And Talia valued that power of love. She told this story so many times to her kids, stressing to them the importance of forming strong friendships with people who you could trust wholeheartedly and who could stand by you through every challenge and obstacle thrown your way. People who knew you and understood you well enough to contribute to your own strengths."

"You mean like an anchor?" Scott questioned, wheels spinning wildly in his head. But that didn't make much sense. Allison was his anchor once, and afterwards Scott became his own anchor. It had nothing to do with-

"Not exactly. An anchor is someone who helps you control yourself and your powers, someone who grounds you. Talia on the other hand talked about someone who encouraged you to embrace your powers completely, to use them well when most necessary."

An image of a boat popped into Scott's head as he tried to make sense of this. "So…not an anchor, but a…propeller?" A lightbulb slowly went off in his head.

Deaton considered the analogy and smiled. "Yes, that sounds like a pretty good way to put it actually. Someone who propels you to strive for your fullest potential."

Scott grinned to himself. This was starting to make perfect sense. He was most comfortable with his powers around Stiles, because Stiles always believed in them. He had to take a moment to process everything; he and Stiles were best friends, but neither of them expected at all that their friendship could actually _mean_ something of supernatural- correction - _magical_ significance. All of this philosophy was starting to make him feel slightly dizzy.

Deaton gave him a look of concern. "Are you ok Scott? I didn't think this story would be overwhelming, especially to you."

"Oh no! It's not that. I'm just amazed by the story; it's really cool that Mina could become an alpha simply because they loved each other that much."

"Oh, it wasn't just that. Even with their difference in species, Rolf thought Mina was just as strong and powerful as he. And he didn't just see her as an equal, he saw her as someone who would lead the pack with him."

And at last, everything clicked. "Because she already was leading the pack with him, wasn't she?" Scott asked.

"In a way, yes," Deaton agreed, "But then again, this is just a fable; the main purpose of the story is the lessons it teaches."

Scott raised his eyebrows. "Are you _sure_ this didn't _actually_ happen?"

Deaton sighed. "This is a fairytale, spun many different ways over many centuries; it's simply mythology. Of course, people have developed theories and legends from it, based on the histories they already knew." He stopped for a moment, contemplating whether to broach a particular subject. "Scott, you know about werewolf relationships, right? About mating and such?"

Scott scrunched his face, feeling very uncomfortable at the question. "Umm, I try not to think about that too much," he chuckled lamely, a little uneasy by how animalistic the idea sounded.

"Well, then you should know that when a werewolf finds a mate, the werewolf can mark them, creating a bond between them that can't be tampered with."

Scott's discomfort grew; that idea didn't sound completely right. "However," Deaton continued, "some people claim that there are occurrences, rare ones, where a natural bond is formed between two people, one of them at least being a werewolf, and it is an act between the two that seals that connection. Those theorists refer to it as an "alpha bond", for it only exists with at least one alpha, oftentimes a True Alpha."

The uneasiness disappeared, and Scott perked up. "Wait a minute…an _alpha bond_? What does that mean? What happens? What exactly is the "act" they have to do?"

"Woah now, don't ask me; since I haven't bothered with the details, that's all I know about it. I've heard of people speculating that alpha pairs have powers beyond the limits of the "ordinary supernatural", but of course no one knows what or has seen any proof of that whatsoever. Some have tried justifying that by saying that only the couple in question can understand their bond and the power it entails, including what is done to seal that bond," the emissary finished, answering Scott's latter question.

Scott's mind was reeling. This was an overwhelming amount of information to take in all at once, and he thought for a second he was about to faint from it all. The idea of him and Stiles… yeah they were best friends, platonic best friends, but they shared a rather deep friendship. They were brothers; Stiles said so himself once. And throughout every piece of crap that Scott had to deal with, Stiles was always the one strong constant in his life, and neither teen had questioned that it would remain that way. But while he was feeling a strong surge of joy, that strange feeling of panic came back, and in an instant, he additionally felt a sensation of emptiness, as though something that was just there a second ago had now rushed away. The veterinarian noticed the boy's confusion and sighed, "Scott, please don't tell me you're starting to contemplate this too. It's just a children's story, one that teaches a lesson that you already know all too well."

Scott shook himself out of his thoughts. "I know, I just- it's a beautiful story. It's hard to believe that it hasn't been told for a while."

Deaton sighed again with a hint of sadness in his voice, "Yes, it has been a while; I almost forgot how incredible it was." He chuckled nostalgically. "Actually, if I recall correctly, this was one of Derek's favorite stories too."

Scott's eyes rose in surprise. "Wow, I didn't know that. That really does explain a lot though. After everything he had to go through in the past, I don't blame him for losing faith in love. I guess he doesn't care for stories like that anymore."

Deaton stared off into the distance in thought. "No, I guess not. That's the sad part about growing up; people sometimes tend to forget the most important lessons they learned when they were kids."

Scott grinned brightly. "Well, you don't have to worry about that with me," he declared with a playful tone.

Deaton returned the smile. "No, I most definitely do not." He glanced at the clock. "Shoot! It's getting late. You should probably head back home now."

Scott jumped off the table, suddenly remembering there was a certain best friend outside that needed to know certain crucial information. "Oh yeah! I have a lot of homework to do!" That wasn't entirely a lie; being enrolled in AP Biology meant that Scott had to put in a lot more effort if he wanted to do well enough to eventually become a veterinarian. But Stiles still took priority at the moment, and so he hurried to gather his things. Before leaving, he turned to Dr. Deaton. "Thank you for telling me that story; I really enjoyed hearing it."

Deaton smiled fondly. "I'm glad you did." He sighed wistfully, "I have a feeling that was one of very few peaceful moments that we're going to have this year."

Scott scoffed in agreement. "Probably. Bye, Dr. Deaton! Have a good night!"

"You too." Deaton waved back, his smile still on his face.

Scott rushed out of the office and into the waiting lobby, expecting to see his best friend jump up at the sight of him, eager to hear every bit of information the werewolf had. But that was not happening, because said best friend was nowhere to be seen.

"Stiles?" Scott called out, perplexed. He knew the teen had been here. Heck, he heard _his_ heartbeat; he smelled _his_ scent. Then again, he never did bother to check if he could still hear or smell him later on. He spun around slowly, thoroughly confused. Then he remembered the odd feelings of panic and that empty sensation that he observed earlier. That part really didn't feel like himself. He wondered; could it be…?

Scott had to sit down and process this. He had no idea what exactly was going on, let alone how it was happening. But didn't Deaton mention something about special powers? Was that what that feeling was? Scott closed his eyes and calmed himself down. Slowly, he let Stiles completely occupy his thoughts.

Then he felt it. It was faint at first, but as Scott focused more he could sense it more clearly. He felt fear, confusion, sadness, and amazement, all mixed into one giant emotional melting pot. There was a sense of rush, as though he wanted to escape from something, but escape to familiarity. Scott opened his eyes in realization, and now his own emotions of sadness were seeping into his conscious.

"Oh no," he said sadly. Immediately he got up and jogged outside to where he parked his motorcycle. He needed to talk to Stiles soon, and he knew just where to find him.


	3. Only Human

_**Hi again :)! Finally Chapter 3 is up! This one was tough to write out for some reason; I went through a severe bout of writer's block to where I just stared at the screen for minutes at a time having no idea what to write down! I guess I knew I wanted conflict, but wasn't necessarily sure what dialogue to write down. Anyway, it's here, so please let me know what you think; compliments AND constructive criticism are both much appreciated :). And now 'Human' by Christina Perri is going to play in my head every time I think of Stiles, lol :P! It is a good song though, and it inspired my chapter title ;). I'm not sure now when the next chapter will be ready, but I'll set an official deadline of 7/17 to remind myself of it XD.**_

 _ **So, the idea of Stiles putting on an act to be sort of a dark horse was actually inspired by a story called "Hidden Thoughts" by MagicMysticFantasy :). It's really an interesting perspective on the character's thought processes throughout all these events of the series, so if you'd like to, check it out :D! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, nor any of the aforementioned inspirations :).**_

 **Chapter 3: Only Human**

Scott parked his motorcycle in front of the Stilinski house. He debated a little on his next move and determined the most effective way to reach his friend. He walked up to the door and rang the bell.

Sheriff Stilinski soon opened the door. "Hey Scott! Nice to see you actually at the door for once."

Scott smirked. The sheriff knew him too well. "How's Stiles doing?"

The sheriff's face melted into an expression of concern. "I guess he's ok. Though when he came home, he did seem to be a little stressed and preoccupied. Is everything all right? Did something happen?"

Scott immediately thought back to the glowing red eyes and his conversations with Stiles. "No, nothing happened," he lied, "I just wanted to drop by and see how things are going."

Stilinski still looked skeptical, but he decided to shrug things off for the time being. "He's up in his room," he smiled, and he opened the door further so Scott could step inside.

"Thanks!" responded the teen, and he proceeded up the stairs to his best friend's room. He considered knocking, but decided to forgo that idea and instead opened the door and walked straight in.

"Dad, I'm fine, I just don't feel like talking right now-" Stiles started to say, but he cut off when he rolled over in his bed and saw who was at the door. He bolted up and drew his covers further around him. "Scott? H- how did you get in?"

Scott couldn't help giving him an incredulous look. "Seriously? You have a front door you know."

Stiles blushed, realizing the stupidity of his question. "Well, you don't normally walk in through the front door…"

"Well, I know if I tried coming in through the window you wouldn't let me in," Scott said pointedly. Stiles scoffed in reply. After a minute he simply stated, "You're right."

Scott slowly stepped towards the other teen. "Look, I know this is scary; it's no picnic for me either. But I think I know what's going on, and from the sound of it, it's pretty incredible."

"So I heard."

Scott stopped, confusion slowly spreading across his face. "Wait, what do you mean you _heard_? You were too far away."

Stiles looked up with his own surprised expression and then scoffed again when realization hit him, "Oh, of course, OF COURSE you knew I was there. Stupid powers…"

"Dude, I heard another heartbeat, and to be fair, I can pretty much smell you from a mile away," Scott teased before shaking himself back on track. "But that's beside the point. The only way you could've heard us is with the hearing of a…" he trailed off as a thought struck him. He stared at Stiles, eyes wide with wonder. "You _did_ hear us, didn't you?"

"Every stupid word of that stupid story, enough to know that the stupid story isn't just a stupid story at all," Stiles muttered bitterly.

Scott didn't notice his friend's dark tone, lost in his own astonishment. "It's really true then. Everything about that story, even the myths and legends, they're all actually true!" He turned to smile at Stiles, but his face fell when he saw that his enthusiasm was not matched. "Stiles, what's the matter? Don't you know what this means?"

"Yes, I do know what it means, and I wish I didn't," Stiles spat out.

A slight twinge of frustration bit at Scott. "Dude, what's up with you lately? I don't get how you're so upset by this!"

Stiles sat up, forgoing his blankets. "Scott, I told you from the beginning; _I don't want this_! I don't want any "alpha bond" or "special powers" or anything like that; I just want my best friend, my _normal_ best friend." He stopped when he said that, realizing the impact of those words. "No, I don't mean _you_ being normal, I-"

"I know what you mean," Scott stated firmly. He paused for a minute before he continued. "What about everything you've done in the past few weeks? What you did for Parrish, what you figured out about those doctors…"

"I'm happy Jordan's able to embrace his abilities, that's it."

"Then why don't you embrace _yours_?"

"Scott, you still don't get it! Just because you're supernatural doesn't mean I am. I'm HUMAN, Scott. I don't have any abilities- I don't _need_ any abilities -because I'm only _human_."

"God this has NOTHING to do with you being human! _I_ was human!"

"Yeah, till you were attacked by a bloodthirsty lunatic!"

Scott had to take a moment to calm himself down; this was getting way out of hand and way off topic. He sat down forcefully on Stiles's bed and looked straight into the teen's eyes. "Do you remember what I said at the beginning of school?"

Stiles sighed. "I'm the genius and you're the athlete," he reiterated, and he had to resist a guffaw at that. "So what?"

Scott took a deep breath. "Stiles, I know you're not a supernatural creature; I know you are human. But you're not an ordinary human; you never were."

Stiles opened his mouth to protest but Scott stopped him. "When I say you're a genius, I'm not kidding. You're EXTREMELY smart, sometimes even smarter than Lydia." He winked, and Stiles let out a snort. "Stiles, you have the best instinct I've ever seen a person possess."

"Really? Yeah, I could totally tell by the number of times you've listened to me." Stiles stared at the alpha pointedly.

Scott sighed in amused embarrassment, "I know, sorry, I'm working on it."

"No you're not."

"Yes I am!"

"Oh give it up already!" Both started laughing now, and the tension present before was gently releasing. Remembering the situation, the two boys returned to their solemn moods, though both were considerably more relaxed. After a moment, Stiles spoke. "Well, speaking of instinct, I was right."

"Right? Right about what?"

Stiles looked up at his friend. "You _were_ the one who did this. Subconsciously, but you still caused it nonetheless."

"Stiles, what are you talking about?"

"Last night, when you slept over."

Scott remembered the night and tried to make sense of it in this context. "I was just making sure you were ok. I mean, _I_ wasn't ok. To be honest, I was sort of feeling alone. I needed to talk to _someone_ …" Realization dawned on him. "That was it, wasn't it? The "act" Deaton was talking about?"

Stiles didn't nod, but Scott knew what his answer was. "We both felt alone and scared out of our minds; I guess it'd make sense for us to find each other," Stiles explained.

"And you had just helped Jordan, and I told you how important you were to the pack, to me…"

Stiles faced his best friend again as a realization came to mind. He was so stressed and confused about everything, but he didn't really consider how Scott felt about it. He remembered the thoughts running through his mind from that previous night, about how Scott always believed in him and refused to see him as anything less than extraordinary, about how the two of them were sort of like phoenixes for each other, about how no matter who else was involved now, Scott and Stiles had formed a pack of their own from the day they met... And that's when pieces of the puzzle slowly started to fall into place. "We've never been _just_ best friends, have we?"

Scott gave a small smile. "No, we haven't. I mean, we ARE best friends; nothing can ever change that. But at the same time, "best friends" seems to be a HUGE understatement, considering all we've had to go through."

Stiles gave a dry laugh. "No kidding, one tragedy after another…" He was silent for a moment before speaking again. "I'm sorry I got mad at you."

Scott's smile seemed to relax a little in relief. "It's ok," he assured simply, "And now that you've vented out all of your anger, you can tell me the truth."

Stiles frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, the real reason you're upset about this."

"You know why I'm upset; I told you!"

"Stiles, even if you become the most skilled at keeping your heartbeat steady, I'm pretty sure I could still tell when you're lying. And I know you're lying right now. Out with it; why are you really upset?"

Stiles focused on staring at a wall, trying to ignore the tears that were forming in his eyes.

" _Stiles_."

The teen took a deep breath and spoke, voice slightly shaking. "I- I'm not…"

"Not what, Stiles?"

Another breath. "I'm not a leader, ok? I- I can't be an _alpha_. _You're_ the alpha, not me."

"What are you talking about? You definitely are!"

"Scott, how many people have you killed?"

Scott paused, startled by the question. "W- what?"

"Answer me; how many people have you killed?"

"I- none."

"Ok, well I've killed a lot more people than none."

Scott could see where this was going now. "Enough of this. That wasn't you! That was the Nogitsune!"

"Which _I_ let possess me! Look, maybe I can help the pack figure stuff out and all, but I'm a mess; I can't _lead_ the entire pack…"

"STILES!" Scott yelled, causing Stiles to jump back in shock. "Don't you get what Deaton said? The girl in the story was able to be a leader because she was seen as one, because she already WAS one! Stiles, you're already a leader; you've been leading since the day I was turned!"

"Scott, what the heck are you-"

"When I was turned, I didn't even believe what was happening. You were the one who found out I was a werewolf, and YOU were the one that helped me understand and get through it. I have my own beta now, and I STILL have no idea what I'm doing! But I know I can always count on you to help me figure it out. Stiles, you're my brother; I trust you more than anyone else in the world. I _need_ you to lead this pack _with_ me… _our_ pack."

And finally, a few of the tears in hiding started trickling down Stiles's face. After a moment, he could think of nothing else but to pull the werewolf into a brotherly hug. Scott noticeably relaxed in his brother's embrace. "So, is that a yes?" he inquired hopefully.

Stiles sighed with a mix of fondness and slight exasperation. "It's an understanding," he stated frankly.

Scott chuckled, "I can live with that, for now." He patted the teen's back before they broke apart. They sat for a little while in silence, both now leaning against the pillows of Stiles's bed.

Soon Stiles broke the silence. "Sooo, these powers…"

"Stiles, it's ok; we don't have to worry about that now."

"Well I'd prefer not to get any more surprises."

Scott sighed, "Fair. Well, according to theories, apparently we're the only ones who can figure out what exactly these powers are. I guess it'll just take a little time."

"We already know one of them is me getting super hearing."

"Uh huh."

"And the lie detection."

Scott laughed at that. "I'm kind of already able to do that."

"I mean me."

"Wait, what? What lies have you been hearing?"

"You're hiding something."

"No I'm not!" Scott exclaimed, but despite himself he could sense a change in his heart rate that he was trying so hard to control.

Stiles barely cracked a smirk. "Oh, you're totally lying right now. All right, your turn to spit it out."

Scott stared in astonishment that quickly transformed into an expression of guilt. "Ok, there is one other ability that I've kind of figured out."

"Yes?"

Scott took a deep breath. "Sensing emotion."

"Sensing emotion? You mean smelling it?"

"No, not exactly. When I was listening to Deaton's story, I was personally excited. But I also felt…panic. But that didn't seem right; though I was feeling the emotion, it seemed like it was coming from someone else." He turned to the other boy. "Stiles?"

Stiles shifted uneasily. "Yeah, I _was_ a bit freaked out by everything."

"Exactly. Somehow, I could tell what you were feeling, no chemo-signals required."

Stiles groaned lightly. "Gosh, I feel so exposed now." Scott chuckled, and soon another thought entered Stiles's mind that made him perk up. "Hey Scott, were you by chance thinking of Kira at all in Deaton's office?"

Scott scrunched his eyebrows as he tried to remember. "Uhh, I dunno; why would I be thinking of Kira?" After thinking a while, the answer struck him. "Oh wait! Yeah, when Deaton was talking about how accepting Mina was, it reminded me of how Kira reacted when she found out I was a werewolf. I guess I was thinking of that. Why do you ask?"

Stiles immediately slouched back into his original position. "No reason."

"Stiles, that's not going to work anymore."

"Fine, I may have seen an image of Kira flash through my head. Only for a second, but it was confusing nonetheless."

Scott was intrigued. "What did you feel?"

Stiles looked at his friend in confusion before replying, "I dunno, some odd sensation of giddiness I think."

Scott snorted despite himself. "That sounds about right."

Stiles placed his head in his hands. "Ugh, this is way too weird."

"Don't worry," said Scott, giving a reassuring pat on the back, "we'll get used to all this eventually." Stiles looked up with a skeptical expression, but Scott ignored him. After some time, the werewolf spoke again, another epiphany settling into his head. "Hey, do you realize what this means?"

"Uhh, Scott, déjà vu…"

"No, there's something else. Think about it; we have this "alpha bond" with all these extra powers that only WE know of."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, what if this is like a major advantage for us, for the pack? If even Deaton claims this is just a myth, then that means no one else realizes what we're capable of!"

As offset as he was by Scott's enthusiasm, Stiles couldn't help but feel a sudden and surprising spark of excitement of his own. He tried to shake himself back to reality. "Ok, now you're getting a little carried away…"

"No I'm not. Think about how helpful it would be to get to do things that no one else thinks we can do. We'll be sort of like a dark horse!" Scott grinned, proud of his analogy. "That's how you've been pulling it off all this time, right?"

Stiles shook his head, startled. "What? Pulling what off?"

"Sometimes, you make it seem like you're not as smart as you actually are, just so no one will expect you to find out the things you find out. And I have a feeling that's why Lydia used to put on such an act herself." He stared at Stiles pointedly, and the other teen sighed. He couldn't argue with that.

"I guess…you do have a point," he finally admitted.

Scott beamed at his best friend. "Look at that, we're making progress."

Another smirk twitched at the corner of Stiles's mouth. "Shut up."

The two boys sat in another bout of silence, both pondering the many crazy events that had happened since the start of Senior Year. This time, Scott decided to break the silence. "I know this is all new and weird and confusing, for both of us. But from the looks of it, there's some serious stuff coming to Beacon Hills, and I have a feeling we're going to need all the assets we can get."

Stiles stared at the ceiling, thinking back to that horrible scene in the hospital and the battle they had to fight against Peter and Lydia almost dying from a wolfsbane-laced sword. "Yeah," he said softly, "Perhaps we do."


	4. A Beautiful Mind

_**Hey guys :)! So this chapter poofed into existence much faster than I expected! It honestly kind of just flowed smoothly out of my head and into the document! It's shorter than the others, but I wanted to include a little scene to have a little fun with potential powers that Scott and Stiles have now ;). The chapter title is inspired by the movie of the same title, which is about the brilliant mathematician Dr. John Nash (may he rest in peace :) ). I LOVED writing this scene and exploring how Stiles's mind could possibly see things when he's solving problems. I really admire that people have so many different ways of thinking and that our brains and minds can be configured so uniquely, so I enjoyed playing with that. Also, if you haven't watched Sherlock or NUMB3RS, you totally should! At least one of the two if not both. Plus, NUMB3RS gives such an inspiring insight into just how much we truly see math in the world around us :).**_

 _ **Speaking of academics, I have no idea if 2,048 is an appropriate answer for this type of a physics problem :P. I really wanted this scene to take place in AP Biology, but it occurred to me that, having never taken the class myself, I have NO idea what questions I could ask. So I stuck with Physics, because I've referred to it before in this story, and it was the class I took my Senior Year of high school. So there :).**_

 _ **I have included some canon plot from Season 5 ;). I'll probably continue to do that just because I really enjoy the story structure this season. Though I will end up rearranging some of the scenes to fit into the context of my story. Whatever, we'll see how this unravels :D.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, or any of the references I make.**_

 **Chapter 4: A Beautiful Mind**

"Um, I'm sorry, that's incorrect," the teacher stated.

Lydia looked as though someone had told her that Lord Voldemort was coming back from the dead. "B- but, I don't understand; my calculations are correct, and they coincide with the diagram…"

"Lydia, it's ok; free body diagrams are a bit tricky to construct. Let's have another student take a crack at it."

"No, no it's fine; I can double check everything. I'm sure I've interpreted the problem right-"

" _Lydia_ ," the teacher commanded firmly, "It's all right; just sit down." The banshee stopped, and she dejectedly walked back to her seat. Scott and Stiles turned to her and each gave sympathetic smiles. She returned those with a look that was a mix of _Thanks guys_ and _Shove off_.

"Scott? Why don't you have a go?"

The werewolf whipped around in his seat and stared at the teacher, dumbfounded. "Sorry?"

He could tell the teacher was resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "The problem. How much net force is needed to pull this car up this slope?"

Scott was baffled. Yeah, he knew nothing about this problem, or physics in general, but he did know that it wasn't too hard for someone like Lydia. "Sir, I think Lydia should get another chance to solve it; maybe there was a minor error…"

"I appreciate the generosity, Scott, but my math is most definitely correct; I've run these numbers three times already," declared Lydia with a haughty tinge to her tone. Scott groaned, wishing for anything to get him out of this spotlight. Stiles reached over and patted his back in an attempt to encourage him. "Scott, it'll be fine; you can do this. Just…look at the problem, and try to picture it."

Though he understood no more of the problem, the friendly contact did make Scott feel a little bit better. So, he reluctantly turned back to face the board and stared at the illustration depicted there that represented the question. "…Five?" He took a rather blind guess.

The rest of the class snickered while Lydia just rolled her eyes and Stiles smacked his palm on his forehead. The teacher narrowed his eyes. "Ha, very funny. Now try again, and actually use the MATH this time."

Scott growled but again stared at the problem. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and willed himself to focus. He opened his eyes and tried to make sense of the car moving up the slope...

Wait. What? He had to blink a few times to confirm that the little cartoon car was actually moving up the cartoon slope, being pulled by the cartoon rotating pulley system. In short, the full sketch of their physics problem was moving on the chalkboard before his very eyes. He was about to ask to see the nurse- clearly he was experiencing severe hallucinations -but he soon realized that the more he watched the drawing move, the more it made sense. Little arrows starting forming around the drawing, and angles were being marked at various points. Without much conscious thought, Scott got up from his seat and wandered to the board. He picked up a piece of chalk and recreated his mental diagram on the original sketch. He stepped back to view his work, and his eyes lit up as the arrows seemed to form some sort of pattern. He hastened to sketch the arrows separately as their own cluster and eventually formed a defined free body diagram, marking angles when necessary. At that point, Lydia had seemed to reach an epiphany too, and she immediately scribbled on her own piece of paper. Stiles meanwhile just stared in awe at his best friend's sudden spark of inspiration.

Scott rushed to his seat to grab his calculator and rushed back to the board, punching in numbers along the way. After scrawling down a few formulas, he finally wrote down a final number in large font and circled it. Beaming brightly, he turned to face the teacher. "2,048 Newtons," the teen declared proudly.

If their Physics teacher was himself a cartoon, his jaw would have been touching the floor right now. No way would he have expected any of his students except Lydia and maybe Stiles to solve this problem THAT quickly, especially Scott. He quickly flipped through his notes to verify the answer. "Uhh, yes. That is in fact the correct answer!"

Lydia gave a tiny but very noticeable squeak, as she had just calculated the same answer with her original force diagram corrected. Stiles stared at Scott with utmost curiosity. The alpha wore a goofy grin, clearly surprised himself at his sudden accomplishment. Stiles frowned in confusion; the last time he saw Scott with this exact expression was that one time on the lacrosse field two years ago when he was just discovering his werewolf powers… Wait a minute…

The bell rang before any other comment could be made. The teacher quickly mentioned the homework assignment for that day and then moved to get ready for his next class. Stiles grabbed his stuff and caught up with his friend just as the werewolf was walking out the door, his grin still plastered on his face.

"Dude, what the hell was that?" Stiles interrogated.

"I dunno! All I did was stare at it, and the picture started moving!"

Stiles almost tripped over himself. "Wait, did you say _moving_?"

"Yeah, it was kind of cool! Like my brain was doing all the scratch work for me! Ok, that doesn't make much sense… But you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I definitely do…" Stiles trailed off, not sure if he should be more concerned with how crazy it sounded, or how _familiar_ it sounded. His mind spiraled into a torpedo, analyzing every mental piece of evidence he could find in his memory. All of a sudden, he put two and two together and stopped in his tracks, halting Scott as well. "Hey, the super hearing is a werewolf thing."

Scott turned to face his best friend and slowly nodded. "Yes…"

"And the lie detection too."

"Uhh, yeah; you know that, Stiles. What does that have to do with anything?"

"I think whatever "bond" we've created has made me share some of your powers."

Scott chuckled, "Well yeah! As an alpha, it would make sense to have them-"

"Forget about alphas!" Stiles blurted. It was clear that this was still a touchy subject for him. "Scott, if I have _your_ skills…"

It took a minute, but finally Scott realized what the other teen was implying. "Oh," he merely responded. He pondered for another minute. "So, are our minds…"fused"…or something?"

Stiles scrunched his face, finding that concept slightly weird. "Sort of, but not really, but maybe? They're connected somehow."

Scott nodded. "That explains us feeling each other's emotions."

Stiles let out a haughty laugh. "That's for sure."

The two stood for a moment, then decided to continue down the hall to their next class. Soon, Scott spoke up. "Is that really what your thought process is like? How you solve problems?"

Stiles shrugged. "Yeah," he admitted, gently blushing, "I visualize the problem and sort of sketch it in my head to get a better picture of it. It's how my mind works." He looked up, expecting to hear a snicker elicited from his friend.

Scott didn't laugh though. Instead, the kindest smile spread across his face. "Dude, that's really awesome! You really are like Sherlock! Or Dr. Nash! Or you know what? You're EXACTLY like that guy from _NUMB3RS_!"

Stiles blushed severely this time at the allusionary compliments. "I'm not THAT great; I just have a unique way of figuring stuff out."

"Yeah, and so does Professor Eppes."

Stiles chortled, "I'm just glad I could convince you to watch that show."

Scott snorted in return. "It definitely made Calculus a whole lot easier to appreciate."

Suddenly, Stiles stopped. Scott watched him curiously as he cautiously sniffed the air. "Something smells really weird," the human stated.

Scott raised his eyebrows. "Wait, do you mean something smells weird, or something smells… _weird_?"

Stiles looked up at him with a funny look. "Scott, what in the world are you-?" The answer hit him, and he groaned, "Oh COME ON, please don't tell me I can _smell_ things now…"

But Scott had ignored him, pursuing the mysterious scent himself. Looking right, he realized it was coming from the classroom door they were just passing, which was cracked open. Scott peered in through the window, and one particular student caught his eyes, which soon widened in concern. "Uhh, Stiles? Did you sense anything specific in that scent?"

Stiles scoffed. "I thought that came with practice," he replied sarcastically.

"Stiles, I'm serious!" Scott exclaimed with frustration, "This scent doesn't smell familiar at all." He paused a moment before nervously asking, "You haven't happened to notice anything strange or unusual about Tracy, have you?"

Stiles frowned. "Tracy? Tracy Stewart? Umm, not really. Why? Is she the one that's in there? Is that where the smell is coming from?"

Scott gulped. "Uh huh," he said, alarm slowly rising.

Stiles felt a flash of that alarm. He shook it off at first, knowing what it was now, but as his eyes scanned the room label, alarm of his own took its place as a realization occurred. "Um, Scott, Tracy is in our class; she's a Senior."

Scott nodded slowly. "Mhm," he mumbled.

"Then what is she doing in sophomore World History?"

The alpha released a shaky breath. "I don't know," he whispered. His eyes didn't leave the dark-haired girl sitting in a seat and staring blankly at the board, slightly trembling. "And I have a feeling she doesn't either."


	5. Thinking Out Loud

_**Hi everyone :)! Ok, I've been meaning to say this for the past couple of chapters, but I kept forgetting, so sorry! Thank you thank you thank you for all your positive support and reviews :)! I really enjoy writing this story, and I'm glad you enjoy reading it! Sorry if this took a while; I've been quite busy this week and haven't had much time to sit down and write, lol. Also, I was originally planning to continue this chapter, but upon reading it over last night, I realized that this was kind of a good stopping point. So Tracy's fate will be incorporated into the next chapter. When that will be, I have no idea :P.**_

 _ **The title is inspired by Ed Sheeran (of course, #MusicNerd :P). I absolutely LOVE writing this new power of Scott and Stiles in and am looking forward to utilizing it in the story's future. I especially enjoyed writing the voice of one certain disturbing flashback character. Hope it sounds just as creepy as it did in Season 3 ;). Again, some Season 5 events are included and are in fact the main focus of this chapter. Like I said though, plot points will have to shift around a little for the flow of the story (and also because it would take too long to write out EVERYTHING that's happened this season :P). I know, I know, I haven't written in Liam yet. Gosh, why is my writer's mindset avoiding him so much? At some point, I am going to put him in. It just has to happen. He's way too awesome and adorable for it NOT to happen :D! However, I know for a fact that Theo will NOT be in this story; his character is still too confusing and creepy as heck for me to want to deal with him in my story XD.**_

 _ **By the way, Stiles staring at the mountain ash is a small dedication to all the fans who've been speculating nonstop about what that stare could have meant in Season 5 episode 3 ;). Personally, I didn't think much of it; sometimes things on screen are just an actor's or director's choice and might not necessarily mean anything significant about the character. Luckily, in this story, it does :D.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, definitely not Season 5, which is still blowing my literary mind out of the water :) :) :) :).**_

 **Chapter 5: Thinking Out Loud**

"Parasomnia." Lydia stated.

"Gesundheit?" blurted Stiles, his logic being temporarily impaired by his anxiety and by the bluntness of Lydia's statement.

The banshee rolled her eyes slightly before continuing. "According to my mom, Tracy's been having night terrors for a while."

"She told you that?" Scott asked.

Lydia made a deliberating face. "Ehh, no. My mother won't disclose that, not even to me. But I did do a little eavesdropping." Her mouth widened in a smirk.

"Ok, well what does that mean for Tracy then? Why was she in a classroom she clearly was not supposed to be in?" Stiles interrogated.

Lydia pondered for a moment. "Well, from the looks of her, she didn't seem to be aware of where she was. My guess is that she still thinks she's dreaming."

"She's still in a night terror," Scott concluded somberly. The three were standing near the front doors of the school. Scott and Stiles had managed to get the poor Senior out of Mr. Yukimura's class and to Ms. Martin's office. They got in contact with Lydia, who agreed to find out the situation and meet the boys at their current location. Now they stood nervously, not quite sure of what to do.

Lydia broke the silence. "So, you think she might be a supernatural creature?"

Scott replied, "Yes…and no."

"What do you mean no?"

"Her scent, it was different. It was sort of familiar, but at the same time, it was unlike anything I've ever smelt before. Supernatural that is."

Lydia frowned. "So she's a different type of creature then? Like Parrish?"

"Who cares?" Stiles exclaimed suddenly, "If she doesn't realize what she's doing, then who's to say she's not about to do something really bad?" His breathing started to quicken. "We need to keep her somewhere, make sure she doesn't hurt anybody."

"Stiles! We don't know that. Maybe she's recently discovered her powers and is just freaking out about it, and that's what's causing her night terrors." Sure, that wasn't Lydia's best rationale, but seeing her friend's growing stress was starting to concern her.

She became more alarmed when Stiles gave her a very dark glare. "Oh, so when you discovered YOUR powers, it wasn't Peter influencing your every move; it was just you "freaking out" about it."

Scott stepped forward to defend the banshee. "Stiles, that was different and you know it. What's important right now is to get to the root of the problem and find out _why_ Tracy is acting like this in the first place and what it means."

"Yeah, we'll do that, AND we'll be extra careful about it. Trust me, I have a really bad feeling about all this…" Stiles's voice started shaking now, and Scott became more and more worried, wondering what in the world was making his best friend talk like this. Then, something suddenly flashed into his mind.

" _Stilesss…_ "

That voice. It was so chilling. So haunting. And so, disgustingly familiar. Scott nearly collapsed from the surprise of it. Unnoticed by the other two, he looked around, searching for the source of the voice and hoping it wasn't who- or rather _what_ -he was thinking of.

" _Stilessss…_ " the voice hissed again, " _We're going to have some fun now. We're going to killll them, Stiles. Killl them alllll. And we're going to take their PAIN. We're going to become POWERFUL. And it's going to feel sooo GOOOOOOOD._ "

And that's when Scott realized the voice wasn't coming from anywhere around him, or outside _himself_ for that matter. He turned to face Stiles, now understanding the human's fear and slowly feeling that fear himself. Without warning, his chest started to constrict; his breathing became short and strained. Which didn't make much sense, since he shouldn't be getting asthma attacks anymore. But knowing the circumstances, he knew what he was actually feeling.

Stiles was starting to have a panic attack.

Scott moved forward and placed a firm hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Hey, Stiles. It's ok. She'll be ok."

Stiles looked up at the werewolf. When their eyes met, the former knew that what was on his mind was on Scott's as well. Again he cursed their stupid bonding powers, but a small part of him was indeed feeling grateful that Scott understood. The alpha continued comforting him. "We're going to take care of her, ok? We're going to find out what's going on, and we're going to make sure she gets freed from it. She's NOT going to hurt anyone, including herself, not under our watch, ok?"

Scott's heart slowed down as Stiles's panic attack started dying away. The human slowly breathed, nodded, and gave a small smile. "Thanks, Scott."

Scott smiled back. "Don't mention it."

Lydia, sensing something was up, also offered a consoling hand. After thinking for a minute, she asked the question that was troubling her the most. "Is there any chance the doctors who attacked at the hospital might have anything to do with this?"

Stiles perked up, his previous worries now replaced with a fresh one. "Crap, I forgot all about them!" His eyes widened in horror. "What if THEY'RE the ones who turned Tracy into… _whatever_ she is? They- they could be _using_ her to finish us off or something…" His breathing increased again as his worry grew.

Scott couldn't help let some of that worry infuse his own emotions. "That could explain why her scent was so strange; she isn't actually super _natural_."

"Wait, you mean Tracy wasn't turned traditionally? It was by synthetic means?" Lydia asked in a horrified tone.

Stiles nodded gravely. "Like I said at the hospital, it's not magic-"

"-it's science," Lydia finished in understanding, looking absolutely stressed right now.

Scott patted her arm comfortingly. "Don't worry, we'll figure it out soon. Let's just go home for now."

Lydia nodded, put on a strong face, and walked through the school doors, leaving the two boys alone. Stiles was frowning, seeming to be lost in thought. He opened his mouth, as if he was about to ask a question, but decided against it. He turned away from Scott and faced the lockers, brows knit together in concentration.

Scott grew nervously curious. "Stiles, what's up? What are you thinking?"

Scott didn't see it, but an ever so small smirk twisted the corner of Stiles's mouth. Scott just stared, becoming more confused, until another voice seemed to appear inside the back of his mind. " _You tell me._ "

He knew then it was Stiles's voice, so he didn't think much of it. "Stiles, I know you're worried-"

" _Did you read my mind? And I don't mean figuratively, I mean did you actually hear my thoughts?_ "

Scott paused, wondering where this was going. "You're worried about the Nogitsune, aren't you? You're worried that what happened to you is the same thing that's happening to Tracy. Stiles, what are you saying?"

The human then turned back around to face Scott, a seemingly innocent expression on his face. "Scott, I haven't said anything."

The werewolf was taken aback. "Wha- yes you did! You were just asking if I could read your mind."

The human maintained a stoic expression. "I haven't opened my mouth at all."

Scott was puzzled; he could have sworn it was Stiles's voice he was hearing in the back of his head, asking him if he could hear his thoughts… Then it clicked. Scott's eyes widened as he looked at Stiles. "You mean…" he started, alarm being replaced by wonder.

"Scott…" Stiles said warningly, noticing the corners of his friend's mouth start to rise.

"We can _read each other's minds_?"

"Ok, don't get all excited now," Stiles pleaded, desperately trying to keep his own expression from matching his best friend's.

But Scott's face had now broken into a giant grin. "DUDE! How cool is that? We can communicate, anytime and anywhere we want, and _no one_ will hear us at all!" Stiles tried to remain serious, but Scott just laughed, "Oh give up the act already. I know you're excited; you've been wishing for telepathy as long as I've known you!"

Stiles didn't crack, but Scott had one more trick up his sleeve. He leaned against a row of lockers, crossing his arms and looking directly at the other teen with a confident smirk. Without even parting his lips, he spoke his mind, literally. " _Come on, tell me this isn't one of the coolest things that's happened to us._ "

And Stiles couldn't take it anymore. His face finally broke into a goofy grin. "Yeah, it is _kind of_ cool," he agreed. But he then forced another serious expression. "But you better not be nosy about this. No snooping through my personal thoughts, ok?"

Scott merely chuckled. "Okay," he responded unconvincingly.

"Scott McCall, I mean it!"

"All right, all right! I won't be nosy! Geez…" He attempted to feign offense, but failed terribly. Stiles chortled.

"You know, maybe this "alpha bond" thing isn't so bad after all," the young human admitted with a cheeky grin.

Scott returned that with a smirk of his own. "Glad to see you're finally getting somewhere," he teased. But he soon sobered up his expression. "Seriously though, I have a feeling that with what we're up against, whatever we have is going to be useful. VERY useful."

"""

Stiles stared, frozen in fear, as the mountain ash magically floated to the ground, encasing the pack members and affiliate in a circle of "safety". A few days after Tracy's condition was discovered, the poor girl ended up in a bizarre situation where she vomited black blood and raven feathers during a meeting with Ms. Martin and promptly passed out. Luckily, the Senior pack members were able to sneak her away before the counselor could pull her to the nurse's office. And so that brought them to this moment, where Stiles, Scott, and Lydia were surrounding the table holding Tracy in Dr. Deaton's office. In order to protect any enemies from getting in (and Tracy from getting out), the emissary immediately spread a handful of mountain ash around them.

"Um, Dr. Deaton, I'm not sure mountain ash will help this time," Stiles said shakily, "We don't think Tracy is exactly supernatural, which means she could cross the barrier…"

"That is a point, but it won't hurt to try, just in case. The only issue is that the others can't get out. You and I can, but Scott and Lydia won't be able to."

At that, Scott and Stiles made eye contact, both thinking the exact same thing. The last time they were here, the doctor had told a story about a couple who defied all boundaries of the supernatural. Stiles knew he was still a human being, but he wasn't sure if his newfound abilities kept him human enough to cross this barrier of ash. If Deaton told him to run and found out that he couldn't… He forgoed the thought and turned his attention back to the doctor in question, who was busy examining the unconscious Senior.

Deaton had performed quite a few tests and was baffled with his results. "This gets stranger by the minute. She has many of the properties of a werewolf. But at the same time, she doesn't seem to be a werewolf." He stopped as he noticed something on the side of her neck, something ominously bubbling under her skin. He frowned. "Lydia, could you turn her over for me please?"

Lydia obeyed, and was shocked by the creepy sight that met her eyes. It wasn't just the neck but the entire spine of Tracy's body that had some unusual object shifting under the skin. It slithered side to side, releasing a hiss that seemed to grow louder by the second. Scott and Stiles moved closer to the girl, anxiously curious as to what was going on.

Without warning, Tracy's back split open, unleashing a large, grotesque appendage that made first contact with Stiles's face, whacking him to the ground. Suddenly, Tracy bounced up from the table, fangs protruding sharply and eyes glowing a sickly yellow. Scott and Lydia tried to ward her off, the former now turned into werewolf form. Meanwhile, Stiles lay on the ground, unable to move an inch. He tried to speak, but in his panic, all that came out was a blubber of noise. He was confused and scared and aggravated; he was on the ground, helpless, with a suspicious sticky substance on the side of his face that he couldn't even wipe off now. Hold on, he was paralyzed, with a sticky substance…

And the realization hit him, why Tracy was in random places without knowing it, why sometimes she just didn't seem like herself. He tried again to speak, to yell out a warning, but in his position, he didn't have enough breath to support his voice. Then an idea struck him; he couldn't warn the room, but he could at least warn Scott. He closed his eyes and maintained firm concentration as he thought.

" _Scott, it's the kanima._ "

Seconds later, and he heard a reply. " _Wait, what?_ "

" _She hit me with venom that paralyzed me; Tracy is a kanima! Scott you've got to be careful; don't make any contact with her!_ "

Scott immediately heeded the warning. "Guys! She's a kanima! She can paralyze-" But it was too late; in the next instant, the alpha was knocked to the ground, and Lydia and Deaton encountered the same predicament. Tracy then proceeded to leap across the ring of mountain ash, scattering the particles like they were worthless pieces of dirt, and she rushed outside the clinic and into the darkness, howling at the night sky above.


	6. Mind to Mind

_**Hey all :)! I first want to sincerely apologize for the super long hiatus before this next chapter. I've been so busy with life and everything it entails and haven't had enough time to properly sit down and write my stories out. And admittedly this is not a long or plot-heavy chapter; in fact it's basically a filler, so sorry for that. It's become a bit harder to continue the story effectively, which really sucks when you start out with a concept you're really excited about. However, I'm determined to finish out the story as best as I can, and if that entails chapters that are few and far between, so be it. I do thank you for your immense patience and support throughout all this, and I hope you continue to enjoy this story and, like me, stick with it till the end :).**_

 _ **This chapter relays a lot of canonic events from early Season 5, but, as I've said before, the future chapters are going to severely deviate from the plot, especially since I have finished Season 5 and realized it's nothing like my headcanon, lol. That conflict between canon and headcanon is actually part of the contribution to my writer's block, but hopefully that can be resolved soon. Hope you enjoy the chapter; reviews are more than welcome and much appreciated!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf at all, but hopefully my story is doing it justice :).**_

Millions of colors swirled. Shrieks and cracks and thunks of scales against skin rattled around Stiles's brain as he lay in his bed. Processing several things at once was already difficult for the young man, so constantly thinking back to the events of that day nearly made his head explode from pain. Yet he remembered anyway, remembered so he could at least try to contrive some sort of sense from it.

When Tracy escaped Dr. Deaton's office, the group there immediately built up a plan of action. Deaton had started explaining how to potentially speed up the process of discarding their paralyzed state, but Lydia, who was immune to kanima venom, was already on her feet and calling Malia and Kira for help. She then promptly left without another word to meet the other girls and find Tracy.

Meanwhile, Scott, Deaton, and Stiles were trapped in paralysis goo for a good while, which almost drove Stiles insane. Many times he'd claim that he could move a part of his body when Deaton informed him that he most certainly was not. But they all maintained their resolve, and Scott and Stiles even practiced sending mental messages about random stuff to pass the time. The latter had to admit, it _was_ amusing when the emissary would give both boys funny looks whenever they were discovered staring intensely at each other.

It took some time, but the venom's effects slowly wore off, and soon all three were able to get back on their feet and rush to find the others. It turned out that Lydia determined that as a kanima, Tracy was going after people who were trying to help her, which included Lydia's mom. And said Ms. Martin was at the police station on a date (Stiles decided he was going to have a serious talk with his dad after all this was over). To their horror, Stiles and Scott got to the station to see Lydia on the ground, clutching her side that was slashed by the kanima but trying to tend to her also injured mom despite her severe pain. As Scott took away some of that pain, the banshee explained to the two boys how somehow Kira could activate her kitsune powers and ended up slicing off Tracy's tail and how now the creature was in the basement fighting Malia. Stiles instantly became pale as paper.

After rushing to the basement, they found Tracy's body lying still in a small pool of a silvery mercury-based substance. Malia meanwhile was fortunately alive but scared out of her wits. She repeatedly stammered that while she was trying to talk the girl to her senses, some guys in mechanical suits and masks had suddenly arrived, grabbed hold of the werecoyote so she wouldn't be able to do anything, and promptly killed Tracy, stating something about the girl's "condition" being "terminal". The whole thing sounded rather ridiculous, but Stiles knew better, and so he believed her completely. Then here they were, with yet another death in Beacon Hills to deal with.

That was the thick forest of Stiles's mind that night as he continuously tried and failed to go to sleep. He was too terrified; the realization that these scientists were more powerful than imagined was severely frightening. There was no way to understand how something as limited as science could achieve supernatural results, and that thought worried him the most. He then decided to give up on analyzing the situation, figuring that sleep and an answer would come more easily if he tried to clear his mind for a moment. He closed his eyes and considered counting some sheep…

" _Stiles?_ "

His eyes fluttered open. The voice was so gentle in his mind that he almost thought it was part of a dream. Almost. He had a feeling he was being spoken to, but was confused as to how.

" _Stiles, are you awake?_ "

He shook himself out of his confusion as the realization hit him. It was very clear whose voice this was inside his head. Man, this would have to take some getting used to. Stiles closed his eyes again and focused.

" _Yeah, I'm still awake; couldn't really sleep to begin with. You can't either?_ "

Somehow, Stiles could picture Scott gently shaking his head. " _I thought I could help her. I thought I could SAVE her…_ "

" _We ALL wanted to save her. But there's not much we can do about it; we don't know at all what we're up against now._ "

Stiles could sense the panic as his best friend replied, " _For men of science, they're able to do things I can't even imagine, and that's coming from a werewolf._ "

Stiles was about to agree, but a nagging memory in the back of his head surfaced, and he had an epiphany. " _You know what? They may be able to do some incredible things, but they're still scientists; they still have limits. And besides, OUR world has been known to house some pretty phenomenal things itself._ " And without even needing much effort, he flashed his memory of Jordan Parrish controlling fire for the first time into the forefront of his mind, as though doing that would project it out of his head for everyone to see. A light gasp poofed into his subconscious, letting him know that Scott now held the memory as well.

" _He…JORDAN did that?_ " Sure, Scott had seen Parrish shift, but he hadn't seen the phoenix completely control his powers, and he was beyond amazed.

Stiles smiled to himself; he didn't want to admit it, but these new powers were growing on him more and more. " _We're going to do this._ " he thought out, despite him still feeling anxious about it all. " _I have no idea how, but we'll figure it out some way; we always have a plan, right?_ "

Now it was Scott's turn to smile. " _And a plan B,_ " he responded, echoing their sentiments from when this whole ordeal started.

Stiles was about to think something else when a sharp tapping on his window distracted him. He jumped a little, initially worried that he was under some bizarre attack. But upon peering through the window he saw none other than a surprisingly vulnerable-looking Malia. Quickly he let her in, and without a word, she gave him a strong look and promptly crawled into his bed. Of course, no words were needed; Stiles knew why she had come. Yes, all of them had seen Tracy's body, but only Malia saw her actually being killed. And something like that is not easy to deal with by any means. So he let her snuggle close to him, and when instead of turning to spoon him she turned so her back faced him, Stiles didn't question it and immediately wrapped an arm comfortingly around her waist. His nose lightly touching the small of her neck, he breathed in her scent and was slightly startled by how strong it was. He wondered if this was part of his "enhanced" abilities and realized that now he could potentially recognize people by their scent. Which was a little weird, but admittedly cool.

Meanwhile, Scott remained silent, sensing that he somehow "lost communication" with his friend. But just as he was about to try calling out Stiles's name again, a sudden wave of emotion swept over him, a feeling of… _safety_. For some reason it reminded him of whenever Kira and he would spend the night together, but that didn't make much sense with her not being here. That's when he realized what was happening, and again he smiled to himself.

"Yeah, we ARE going to figure this out, together," he whispered to himself, sinking back into his pillow and letting his exhaustion from the latest events consume him. In one last attempt at communication, he sent out one thought, " _Good night, Stiles._ "

It took a few minutes, but just before he finally drifted off to sleep, the young werewolf caught the wisp of a voice from his best friend, " _Good night, Scott._ "


End file.
